Drivers may be due refund on pre-2010 tickets from red-light cameras

TALLAHASSEE | Florida cities that installed red light cameras before the state authorized them could have to return millions of dollars in fines now that the Supreme Court has ruled they were illegal.

The court ruled Thursday that red light camera ordinances in Aventura and Orlando violated a state law that requires uniform traffic enforcement.

The decision applies only to cities that installed red light cameras before a 2010 law allowing them was enacted.

The ruling doesn’t affect any local red-light camera programs, which were all implemented after the 2010 state law was passed. Green Cove Springs began using the cameras in 2011, while Jacksonville and Orange Park installed their cameras in 2013.

A lawyer for the city of Orlando contends that it only has to return money to people who disputed the tickets, not those who paid them without objections.

Red-light cameras have been heavily debated in recent years as they have been installed in cities across the state. While supporters say they help traffic safety, critics question, in part, whether the use of the devices is motivated by cities seeking more money from traffic fines.

The Supreme Court took the cases after conflicting rulings by lower courts. The 3rd District Court of Appeal upheld the Aventura ordinance, while the 5th District Court of Appeal struck down the Orlando measure.

The Supreme Court majority faulted the cities for establishing laws different from the way state law said drivers could be punished.

However, the dissenters in the 5-2 decision said the majority failed to “take into account the breadth of the home rule authority granted to municipalities by both the Florida Constitution and by statute.”

“Although this subject is of interest to many Floridians, the wisdom and public policy questions regarding the use of red light cameras are not before this court, nor are any potential constitutional issues that may be implicated through the use of these cameras,” Justice Barbara Pariente wrote. “Instead, the only issue in this case is the purely legal question of whether municipalities were authorized to enact red light camera ordinances, which imposed municipal fines on drivers for conduct already covered by the Florida Uniform Traffic Control Law, prior to 2010, pursuant to their home rule authority.”

Drivers may be due refund on pre-2010 tickets from red-light cameras- By